


Lured

by Goliathus_Regius



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M, Oneshot collection, Siren Haruka, merman Haru
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-04
Updated: 2015-10-04
Packaged: 2018-04-24 20:33:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4934317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goliathus_Regius/pseuds/Goliathus_Regius
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fate pulls them together time and time again, never for the same reason, never in the same universe.<br/>A collection of Free! oneshots</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lured

**Author's Note:**

> A collection of Siren/Merman Haru oneshots, since I'm not gonna be able to stop thinking about Merman Haru until I finish my cosplay for him.

“Haru, I love you.”

The words hadn’t come out of nowhere, but they still left Haru feeling a little numb.

“Are you sure about that, Makoto? I’m not like you, I’m not human.”

His original statement had been completely honest, Haru knew that for sure. It was more for his sake than Makoto’s he asked.

“Of course I do.”

Haru waited for a moment, until the question came together, all of its jagged edges forming a single, complete sentence.

“Did I ever tell you how sirens are born?”

The teen shook his head, seeming unsure about the shift in conversation. Still, he stared at Haru with those wide eyes, head resting on his arms. He was laying on the dock, looking down the Haru in the water. Haru supposed that the relationship could easily be mistaken for a curious teen fascinated by a strange beast of the ocean, but he knew it was more than that. All he felt from Makoto was interest, genuine interest, in Haru, not interest in his appearance or abilities.

Well, Haru had never used his ability on Makoto, and he didn’t think Makoto knew of the true nature of them.

“Then I’ll start here- the water is alive. It breaths, it thinks, it sings. It swallows humans, has lured countless people beyond the point of escape. Sound familiar?”

“Beautiful but sometimes dangerous.” Makoto smiled softly at him. “Well, you are children of the ocean. I already knew that.”

“Yes, in our own way we are. But other children of the ocean, they aren’t like us. They are purely beings of the water, that’s all their ancestry line has ever known. But us, we’re different. We have humanoid features, arms and human heads, even keeping the hair. Those features are different, of course. Our arms thinner, longer, our hair thinner and sprouting algae. But they’re there all the same. And I never told you why.”

Makoto nodded, by now entranced in the story.

“Long ago, a human fell in love with the sea. She left her family behind, diving into the ocean. When she sank to the bottom, resting there in perfect confidence, she changed. The ocean came to her, and told her, ‘I accept you. I love you as well, and trust you to be loyal to the place that is your true home.’ It bound her two legs together like the whales in the ocean, except it made her superior to them. She could breath underwater, and never needed to leave the water. It gave her a dorsal fin like them, but instead of giving her their smooth skin, it gave her the black scales of fish. The scales were rough, like those of a shark, and asserted her place at the top of the ocean. It gave her long ears that could hear in the ocean, and flowing appendages that would disguise her in the muck and seaweed that would be her home.”

“That sounds beautiful,” Makoto said dreamily.

Haru nodded. “She was. She lived happily in the ocean for many years. But, one day she saw humans killing the whales that were her friends, massacring the fish that were her food. She swore vengeance on all humans that day, but she couldn’t leave the water. She asked the ocean to help her, and the ocean, who loved her and feared for it’s other children, agreed. It gave her magic, magic with the ability to lure any human she sang to to her. She killed many malevolent sailors, always allowing those with good intentions to pass. Then, one day when she approached a whaling vessel, she was shot by a harpooner. The ocean mourned her, and honored her memory by promising any human who dived into the ocean with trust in their heart would be gifted her powers.”

He paused for a long moment.

“Do you trust me, Makoto?”

Makoto’s eyes got wider. “I...”

“You don’t have to answer today,” Haru told him quickly. “Take years if you want, I was older than you when I dived, after all.”

“I...” Makoto shook his head softly. “That’s a lot to take in, isn’t it? Who... Who told you all of this?”

“The ocean, I suppose.”

“So you’re alone there?”

Haru smiled at him, a small but rare expression. It helped to sooth Makoto’s burning emotions some.

“I have the ocean, and I have you, don’t I?”

Makoto shook his head. “That doesn’t count.” He stood up slowly.

“Makoto, what-”

“Don’t worry Haru, I trust you completely.” He grinned, taking a step back before he jumped into the ocean. It was a clumsy dive, but it was a dive nonetheless, and asHaru watched he felt the confidence in it.

The water swallowed him, and he let the air out of his lungs as he sunk. He descended slowly into the ocean that he had been terrified of before Haru.

He opened his eyes, seeing only the two blue, translucent ones boring into his. Then, he closed them again, and waited.


End file.
